What does the phrase "in the first place" in this context mean?

Question

Hello,

Does anyone know the phrase"in the first place" in this sentence mean?

"Many believe that it would be better to spend more pveventing people from becoming unwell in the first place, and reduce the amount spent on curing ill health"

i looked it up in oxford dictionary and i got this "in the first place ->
used at the end of a sentence to talk about why sth was done or whether it should have been done or not"

i'm still not sure if it means that in the context above.

Hope somone can help me and give me some more examples if possible.

THANKS SO MUCH.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Yes, here it is a bit more literal:

it would be better to spend more preventing people from becoming unwell in the first place = it would be better to spend more preventing people from becoming unwell before they get sick

However, it still includes the meaning of 'what should be done'.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Does anyone know the phrase"in the first place" in this sentence mean?

"Many believe that it would be better to spend more pveventing people from becoming unwell in the first place, and reduce the amount spent on curing ill health"

i looked it up in oxford dictionary and i got this "in the first place -> used at the end of a sentence to talk about why sth was done or whether it should have been done or not"

i'm still not sure if it means that in the context above.

Hope somone can help me and give me some more examples if possible.

Here's the general idea, by way of a simple and concrete example.

Mary wants to paint her kitchen.

She chooses green.

Her husband Tom starts to paint.

When Tom is almost finished, Mary says 'Stop. I've decided I want blue.'

Tom says 'Why didn't you choose blue in the first place?'

He means 'Why didn't you choose blue earlier, at the beginning, when you had the chance to?'

His use of the expression also adds a tone of frustration and/or surprise.

Please ask again if you still don't understand.

Best wishes, Clive

202202 · Answer

Do you know "in the first place" in this sentence mean?

"I should never have taken that job in the first place"

I think it means "I've taken that job but i'm not sure if i should have taken it or not". is it true?

THANKS

CalifJim · Answer

202202I think it means "I've taken that job but i'm not sure if i should have taken it or not". is it true?

No. It means

It was not a good decision to take that job. It would have been better if I had not taken that job. It would have been better if had chosen something else that was available at that time. If I had made a different choice then, I would not be unhappy about my actual choice now.

CJ

202202 · Answer

Thank you so much for your help. Have a nice day!

Anonymous · Answer

The expression 'in the first place' comes from an ancient Greek poet named Simonides, who was reciting a poem comissioned by Scopas of Thessaly. At the end of the poem, Scopas paid him only half and told him to get the rest from the Dioscuri, who were said to be waiting outside. When Simonides stepped out for a minute, the banquat hall collapsed killing everyone inisde. When the family members came to identify the bodies, they were so mangled that they could not be identified. Simonides came forth to identify the bodies using his memory of where they were sitting while he was delivering his poem. 'In the first place, there was so and so. In the second place, so and so....etc'. The technique of using a spatial image to aide the memory was developed into something called the 'Method of Loci'.

At any rate, that is where the expression comes from. The expression means something akin to 'The first thing that should have been done/should not have been done' and to it seems that it is mainly used in the past tense or in a conditional tense.

Anonymous · Answer

"At any rate, that is where the expression comes from."
Excellent, but where does the expression "at any rate" come from?

What does the phrase "in the first place" in this context mean?

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